“You can stare at me all you want! Hahahaha!”

My assumption was correct. I guess the mother didn’t expect me to take her baby hostage, as she looked confused despite her bold entrance. I was sure I looked like a scumbag for taking a baby hostage, but this situation was beautiful.

“Rooooooar…”

I noticed the mother trying to move, so when I slowly moved Juliena toward the poor baby, not only did she stop, but the other monsters she sent here stopped as well. It was as if someone had activated a restraining spell on them.

‘Is she holding them back?’

The mother was more reasonable than I thought, and thanks to her, I was able to look at her more carefully. She was bigger than I thought—she was big enough that I could see the details on her body from afar. She had horns that weren’t obviously there as decorations since she had just used that to destroy the west wall.

‘People will pay a fortune for it.’

Her horns weren’t the only expensive-looking part of her body. Her black glossy hide looked intimidating, and even from afar, I could clearly see that spells under rare-rank would simply bounce off of it. If we made a shield out of her skin, I was sure it would mitigate any monster’s attack. She was a real dragon, and her tail was impressive.

‘I think we can make a weapon out of her tail…’

I had never heard that dragons in fairy tales existed here, but I guess it wasn’t the type of monster that would use its magic to rule humans. I could feel an immense amount of mana from her. I didn’t know whether all legendary-ranked monsters were like her, but I saw emotions in her eyes. She seemed intelligent enough to be classified as an intellectual being. Moreover, I was certain she possessed motherly love.

When I looked at her using Mind’s Eye, I immediately saw her information.

[Black Dragon Dialugia - Legendary Rank]

[A legendary-ranked monster living in the deepest part of the Rockrevel Mountains. As a dragon-type monster, she possesses a certain level of intelligence and uses her large horn and long tail to hunt mid-sized or larger monsters.]

[Checking Legendary-Ranked Named Monster Black Dragon Dialugia’s Status Window.]

[Name - Dialugia]

[Title - Ruler of the Rockrevel Mountains]

[Age - 4,036]

[Nature - A Gentle Mother]

[Race - Dragon]

[Stats]

[Strength - 105/Above legendary growth limit]

[Agility - 101/Above legendary growth limit]

[Stamina - 123/Above legendary growth limit]

[Intelligence - 100/Above legendary growth limit]

[Endurance - 132/Above legendary growth limit]

[Luck - 101/Below legendary growth limit]

[Magic - 125/Above legendary growth limit]

[Overall Review - Dialugia is very angry because her child was taken away. She’s filled with rage, so please be careful.]

‘Her stats are…’

Dialugia’s stats were ridiculously high, and even if I assumed that the stats of humans and monsters were calculated differently, her stats were still much higher than I had imagined.

Cha Hee-Ra’s strength points were higher than Dialugia, but the two were in a whole new realm altogether. I was sure that with a body like Dialugia, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she could use her strength more effectively than Cha Hee-Ra. Dialugia’s endurance was 132, and her magic was 125. I had never raided a legendary-ranked named monster before, but I was starting to doubt whether the force of one city could even defeat her.

‘I’m sure it’s possible…’

If we were to actually fight her head on, then Castle Rock might be slightly—no, Castle Rock would be at a really big disadvantage, but… I was holding her precious baby hostage.

The legendary monster remained silent, and the overwhelming mood it gave off silenced Castle Rock, but it wasn’t a problem. Her intelligence was really helpful, and I easily figured out why she wasn’t moving so aggressively from the get-go. She could have used her massive tail to destroy buildings, or she could have used her breath to puncture a hole in the castle wall, but she didn’t do any of these.

‘It’s all because she wasn’t sure of her baby’s location…’

The baby crying sadly next to me was fragile, and I was certain Dialugia was afraid that something would happen to her precious baby. If she was that smart, why would I fight her head-on?

When the mother who had destroyed the west wall in anger suddenly became silent while looking at me, the soldiers became flustered. They were probably trying to figure out why this extraordinary monster suddenly stopped moving, and whether something else was going to happen or not. Naturally, it was my job to order these soldiers who had no idea what to do. I found it amusing how they reacted immediately as soon as I spoke.

“Everyone! Let’s protect Castle Rock!”

My voice reached the castle walls thanks to the voice amplification spell, and it only took a moment for the confused soldiers to cry out.

“She’s nothing but a monster. We must show this invading, dirty monster just how powerful we are! The defense unit should prepare a shield spell in case of an emergency while the remaining soldiers in the front will attack the monster. Focus our spells and arrows on her right arm! Close combat soldiers will protect the long-ranged soldiers by removing the monsters on the walls!” I exclaimed

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

“Victory is ours! Everyone! Charge!” I ordered.

It only took a moment for the colorful and flashy spells to land on Dialugia. Her stats were high, but I was sure that receiving this many attacks at once would pierce her skin, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her stagger. This couldn’t be considered a raid, as she was being a sandbag. She thought about using her tail to defend herself, but when she saw Juliena floating around her precious baby, she must’ve realized what it meant because she didn’t defend herself or fight back.

“Kyaaaaaah…”

The baby cried out once again, and I wasn’t sure whether it recognized its mother or not, but its cry sounded sad. If Dialugia were a dumb monster, she could have just charged at us without a care for her baby, which would make the situation more difficult. Still, her baby’s sad cries must be affecting her mentally, and this was a good way to teach a naive monster like her a lesson.

It was really fun to see spells and arrows landing on her without stopping.

“Hold on just a little longer! Everyone! The enemy isn’t able to fight back right now. Victory is ours!” I yelled.

‘She can’t fight back!’

“Castle Rock will forever remember today’s victory! Everyone! This victory was achieved through sacrifice! Let’s push a little more!” I encouraged them with another yell.

‘This is the power of the lord of all creatures! You uncivilized monster!’

“Let’s protect our hometown!” I added.

My heart started to pound when I thought about how much money I was going to make, and of course, I did feel bad. Our dear Dialugia looked miserable as more and more attacks landed on her. She probably thought that fighting back would be crossing the limit, as every time she made even the slightest movement, her precious baby was threatened. It seemed as if she was unaware that dying meant her baby would die next. Still, even if she was aware, her motherly love meant there was nothing she could do.

After all, no parent would want to see their child getting hurt.

‘Geez… I feel kind of bad…’

I felt a tiny; no, a pea-sized bit of sympathy, but I had no intentions of stopping here. If I didn’t do this in the first place, then we would have to deal with a lot of trouble just trying to capture that monster. There was an easy way to win this, so there was no point in fighting fair and square since half of Castle Rock could die doing that, and we could even end up getting pushed back if we did. I did feel bad about snatching her baby and for threatening the gentle mother, but I had no other choice.

The soldiers must’ve thought it was time to kill the monster because the close-ranged soldiers started to stab her with their swords. Dialugia looked so lifeless that it was hard to believe she was a legendary-ranked named monster.

All of a sudden, I saw her looking at me in silence.

‘What…’

Before I could blink, I felt a strange energy that was different from mana flowing into me.

‘What’s this…’

There wasn’t anything wrong with my body, but it was ridiculous how I started to feel lethargic, like energy was flowing out of me. Naturally, I was worried that this was one of her tricks, so when I thought about setting an example by cutting off her baby’s leg, a status window popped up.

[A title has been created.]

[Dragon’s Spouse]

‘What… in the hell?’

[This title is only bestowed upon the chosen spouse of the dragon who will live together and die together on the same day and time. You have been chosen to be Dialugia’s spouse. As her spouse, you will live and die with her. Your magic will increase by five points.]

‘Shit…’

No wonder I was starting to feel weak.

‘Damn it…’

I was happy that my magic had increased by five, but I immediately realized I was about to die. When I hurriedly looked at Dialugia, I noticed the players doing a victory cheer as they were gathering their energy to release Castle Rock’s final blow. However, their attack would only end up killing me.

“S-Stop the attack! Stop the attack! Stop!” I quickly cried out.

I was sure she would survive when I recalled how many endurance points she had, but I couldn’t help but worry since my life was also on the line.

The soldiers must’ve understood my order because they stopped channeling their spells. Dialugia was swaying as if she would die at any minute now. She must’ve fainted because she wasn’t moving anymore, but I couldn’t see her clearly because the building was covering her. Naturally, I started to worry that some crazy guy was going to try and land the final blow because he wanted the experience points.

‘N-No…’

“Go to where the monster is!” I ordered.

“What?”

“I’m going to go to where the monster is right now,” I repeated.

“Oh… understood.”

‘How many times have I been going back and forth today?’

The scenery changed as I was being held by one of the Red Mercenary Guild members while I was holding the baby in my arms. I had gotten so used to being in someone else’s arms that I felt comfortable, but the war situation had changed once more.

Perhaps, it was because Dialugia had fainted, but the monsters that had remained as sandbags were starting to become reckless.

“Capture the named monster! Focus on cleaning up the monsters outside the castle walls!” I commanded them.

‘Please don’t kill her…’

“I’ll say it again! Capture the named monster! Focus on cleaning up the monsters outside the castle walls! After sealing the destroyed wall with defense magic, we’ll return to protecting the castle! Capture the named monster!” I yelled again.

‘Why don’t I see her?’

Despite almost reaching the western area, I couldn’t see even Dialugia’s shadow, and even after I jumped out of the guild member’s arms, I still couldn’t see her. Actually, I saw what looked like a human being, but with large horns on her head. I noticed her looking at me sadly as she was being overpowered by some of the troops. I was a bit flustered, but I immediately realized that this woman was Dialugia.

“M-My child!” she yelled.

I obviously looked like the villain, and she looked like the victim.

“You were safe… my child… you were safe all this time…” she mumbled.

I couldn’t help but yell urgently when I saw her spitting blood.

“H-Hands off! You bastards!”